Enhancing Your Website to Benefit Recruitment: 3 Tips

Employer websites are frequently considered one of the most effective staffing resources in the United States. Online recruitment is critical in the pandemic era , as in-person recruitment has slowed down or completely stopped in some cases. 

A streamlined, robust website allows you to drive more applications and impress candidates with a professional experience right off the bat. If you’re looking to enhance your organization’s website to benefit your recruiting efforts, keep these three best practices in mind: 

1. Include clear, compelling role descriptions. 
2. Allow candidates to apply directly from your website quickly.
3. Incorporate SEO strategies.

When it comes to online recruitment, a cohesive digital strategy  is vital. This creates a positive first impression for candidates and helps you connect with more qualified applicants. 

1. Include Clear, Compelling Role Descriptions

Your website is where potential applicants will go to get more information about your open positions and visualize themselves in the role. Your role descriptions should be clear and concise to provide candidates with all the information they need to decide whether to apply. 

When creating your role descriptions, follow these tips: 

• Be specific and clear. Don’t use vague platitudes such as “Searching for a detail-oriented team player.” Get specific about precisely what the role will entail. Ask current employees to describe their top three daily responsibilities to help specify your role descriptions. 
• Highlight your organization’s values. One of the essential elements of recruitment is finding the right person to fit your organization’s culture. Help applicants understand your culture by describing your company values, whether a commitment to community service or exceeding customer and employee expectations. 
• Include employee testimonials. You might include a video with interviews with current employees to showcase a day in the life of a typical employee. This gives prospective employees a look at what it’s like to work for your organization. 
• Tailor the content to your audience. For instance, perhaps you’re hoping to recruit candidates right out of college. In this case, you should take a play from the higher education website design playbook  and offer content that appeals to younger generations. Optimize your website with a relaxed, playful tone and mobile-friendly pages. 
• Showcase what makes you unique. Whether it’s your mentorship program, matching gift opportunities, or employee wellness program, showcase what makes your business unique and worthy of applicants’ consideration. 

Use other aspects of your website to add context to your role descriptions and provide candidates with a well-rounded view of your opportunities and company culture. 

For instance, keep your blog updated with company news. This might include hiring and promotions announcements or industry news. You can also use your blog to highlight elements of your company culture, such as your annual holiday party, volunteer day, or employee retreat. 

This gives candidates more context for the role and how it fits into your organization. Plus, they can assess whether your company is the right fit for their interests and skills. 

2. Allow Candidates to Apply Directly From Your Website Quickly

You don’t want to inadvertently turn away a qualified candidate because of a hard-to-find or confusing online application process. Your online application process should be accessible and user-friendly to recruit a broad, diverse candidate pool.

Incorporate these best practices when creating your online application process: 

• Offer the application directly within your site to avoid sending candidates to a third-party website. 
• Use homepage call-to-action buttons and links to direct visitors to your online application.
• Keep your application form streamlined by only asking for relevant information. 
• Ensure your forms are accessible, with descriptive form fields, sufficient color contrast, and keyboard navigability. 

By embedding the application process directly into your website, you can offer applicants a more professional, cohesive experience. Plus, you can fully control the branding and design of the page to ensure it aligns with your organization’s style. 

3. Incorporate SEO Strategies

Put yourself in your potential candidates’ shoes. If you were searching for a job, what’s one of the first things you’d do? You’d probably head to Google or another search engine and search for opportunities relevant to your skills and located within your area. 

Search engines play an essential role in spreading awareness about your open positions. That’s why your website should incorporate search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to give your content a better chance of ranking highly on search engine results pages. 

Ensure your website includes:

• High-volume, relevant keyword mentions
• Valuable, educational content
• Fast load speeds
• Descriptive alternative text and other metadata
• Mobile-friendly content

These strategies make your recruiting website more visible on search engines and contribute to a better user experience for applicants. The best part is that making SEO adjustments is free, making this a cost-effective way to boost your online recruitment outreach. 

With an optimized website, you can enhance your recruiting efforts across all online platforms, including LinkedIn, job boards, and other social media platforms. Share a link to your role description and online application across these digital communication channels. When they’re on your website, you can guarantee that applicants will have a positive first impression of your organization, starting the relationship off on the right foot. 

 

Anne Stefanyk is the Founder and CEO of Kanopi Studios.

 

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